Sandy Wilson:

A Preliminary Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom
Humanities Research Center

Creator

Wilson, Sandy,
1924-

Title

Sandy Wilson Papers
1936-1996

Dates:

1936-1996

Extent

17 boxes, 1 oversize box
(8.48 linear feet)

Abstract:

The papers include produced and unproduced
plays, mostly musicals but also plays for stage and TV, as well as drafts of
Wilson's published and unpublished works including an autobiography,
illustrated book, novels, articles, and short stories, along with
correspondence.

Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
University of Texas at Austin

"The creation of a musical is the most satisfying thing in the world..."
Sandy Wilson, talk given at Oxford, May 5, 1955

The papers of British author, composer, and lyricist Sandy Wilson
include his produced and unproduced plays, mostly musicals but also plays for
stage and TV, as well as drafts of his published and unpublished works
including an autobiography, illustrated book, novels, articles, and short
stories, along with correspondence spanning a 60 year period from the 1930s to
1990s. His musicals, produced worldwide, especially his long-running play
The Boy Friend (1952-1994), are
well-represented. Material related to productions of his plays includes
scripts, scores, lyrics, programs, reviews, production photographs,
correspondence, and scrapbooks. Wilson organized his papers prior to donating
the collection to the Ransom Center. His descriptions are used throughout the
following inventory. Wilson wrote drafts of his works in lined notebooks, often
followed later by typescripts. To avoid repetition of the entry
"holograph notebook" in the folder list, assume that
his writings appear in these notebooks, unless otherwise noted.

The collection is arranged in three Series: Series I. Works, 1936-1994,
Series II. Career-Related Material, and Series III. Correspondence,
1953-1996.

Series I is subdivided into Subseries A. Major Works, 1943-1994 and
Subseries B. Notebooks and Drafts, 1936-1981. The produced and unproduced,
published and unpublished works in Subseries A are arranged alphabetically by
title, regardless of literary form. Within titles, the order follows the
creative process from notes and drafts to the completed work. For example, for
the musical
Clapham Wonder, the script sequence begins
with a holograph manuscript, proceeds through two typescript versions, and ends
with the rehearsal script. If production materials are present, the sequence
may include lyrics, scripts, correspondence, photographs, programs, and
reviews. Some of Wilson's plays are based on the works of other writers such as
Cecil Beaton(
My Royal Past), Barbara Comyns (
Clapham Wonder), Ronald Firbank (
Caprice), Christopher Isherwood (
Goodbye to Berlin), John Collier (
His Monkey Wife), Compton Mackenzie (
Siren Song), and R. B. Sheridan (
The Rivals), as well as his own original
material.

The largely unpublished writings in Subseries B, arranged
chronologically from 1936-1981, are also predominantly in the form of holograph
notebooks, often with multiple works contained in a single notebook. Included
are plays, novel fragments, short stories, lyrics, sketches, talks, scripts,
notes for musicals, memoirs, articles, and reviews, some of which represent
drafts of works present in Subseries A.

The career-related material in Series II includes articles by and about
Wilson, newspaper clippings, photographs, programs, scrapbooks, sheet music,
sketches, and songs, for the most part not directly related to materials in
Series I.

Personal and professional correspondence from 1953-1996 forms the bulk
of Series III. Also included are fan mail and correspondence related to
Wilson's long-time friend and agent, Joan Rees.